Quest Moves Around– A Little
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The first six days of November yielded more good positional data on Quest. She’s still spending her time out around Monomoy Island, but we also found her at Nickerson State Park which is on the inside of the elbow of the Cape, just north of State Route 6.
The best data for the 5th and 6th place her on opposite sides of North Monomoy Island at the south end. 9:23PM on the 5th found Quest on the tidal flats on the western side of the island. Exactly six hours later she was on the east shore. Both of these positions are about 2 miles (3.3km) from the mainland. It’s possible there was some light available from the coastal buildings, but if the skies were clear she likely had the benefit of the waxing crescent Moon to help light her way.
-Jess
November 7th, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Good to see that Quest is moving around a bit. Can’t wait to see where she goes when and if she decides to leave Cape Cod. – Carol P.
November 7th, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Nice to see she is exploring the area a little more….hope she
continues to do well…..Knowing the whereabouts of Quest makes
me wonder about her siblings and hope they are doing as well.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:28 PM
Thanks, Jess, for all these great reports! She’s obviously still enjoying the warmer weather the Cape is experiencing so far this fall. Can’t wait to see what she does when the weather turns colder, and snowier.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:12 PM
Hi Jess, are there many state, federal and college research groups keeping track of the data gathered about Quest?
Are falcons known to head for warmer weather in the winter?
Gale J.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:56 PM
Thanks..that sounded like quite a nice place for her to be. She is quite a girl..go girl.
November 8th, 2008 at 10:15 PM
In an earlier post, you mentioned something about predators. What would be a predator for Quest or other peregrines?
I use to live near Cape Cod and went there often. It’s very interesting to me that Quest is hanging around areas I’m familiar with. I’ve camped at Nickerson several times – to think of Quest there is a nice thought. I’ll have to visit Monomoy Island the next time I’m up east (if they allow people on the island).
Thanks for all your updates!
Gail
November 9th, 2008 at 1:06 AM
Gail, as far as I know, a predator for a young peregrine there at the Cape could just be a mammals. When/if they eat their prey on the ground a fox/dog or so can jump on the careless bird and kill/eat him/her and the prey as well. It has probably been the end for Skye in 2005.
Also the Great Grey Owl is a deadly predator for PFs, just not present there, I suppose.
Anyway Quest choosed a great place to hunt and stay. Just hope she’s learnig many things and she’ll make it! 😀
November 9th, 2008 at 7:09 PM
While searching the New York Times’ archives yesterday I thought I’d see if there was any falcon news back then. Among the many reports I was surprised to learn they were a familiar presence on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1890 (http://tinyurl.com/:65dmnu), had a taste for homing pigeons as reported in 1897 (http://tinyurl.com/6atzr9, note the reference to the Kodak camera), were sometimes outwitted by their prey (http://tinyurl.com/6ozx9a) and observed in Central Park in 1922 (http://tinyurl.com/56rr4u).
November 13th, 2008 at 3:44 AM
Thanks, Rosamund…fascinating reading! I wonder how the fellow in Nyack managed to get the nest, eyases AND the tiercel…particularly with a kodak in his teeth 🙂